Arabic ranks fifth in the world of most spoken languages, and there are an estimated 200-225 million native speakers. It is the language of Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an, and it is the prevalent language in the Muslim world.
Recent worldwide events have placed importance on more Americans understanding and using the language – reading, writing, speaking and listening. In fact, the U.S. government now defines Arabic as a critical language and the military, the FBI, and the CIA all have increased
recruiting people who speak the languages.
The need for Arabic speakers is great; in 2009 at the U.S. State department there were only about 10 out of its 34,000 employees who were fully fluent in Arabic. To address this issue, the government continues to push a million-dollar program to fund language instruction.
Many individuals in the U.S. military are taking advantage of those dollars and are enrolling in Arabic classes. “There are many opportunities for those who speak Arabic and I enjoy learning about and working in the Middle East,” says Marine John Tempone.
Madison Scaccia, second lieutenant, U.S. Air Force says, “I’m in the Air Force and I want to make myself as useful as possible in the current political climate. I’m also very interested in Middle Eastern culture and am interested in traveling. I like to be prepared.”
San Diego State University is creating future success stories with its summer institutes that are a major part of the Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC) in accordance with U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant funding. There are more than a dozen workshops and intensive language courses being offered at SDSU during the summer months.
“The Arabic course provided me with a deeper understanding of Arabic grammar and vocabulary, and boosted my confidence in my speaking ability. I took basic Pashto at SDSU and I was impressed with the LARC in general. The timing and location were perfect,” says Tempone.
“The Air Force ROTC paid for [my study]. I’ve also visited San Diego before and I think the city is beautiful. I went to school in Arizona, so the idea of being close to the beach really sold me,” says Scaccia.
The LARC’s highly successful intensive summer format has expert instructors who guide students in achieving practical language skills and cultural awareness through conversations, games, writing, multimedia, and other activities based on today’s latest language learning theories and practice.
